Mau Mau resistance and political idiocy

Priyamvada Gopal (Imperial amnesia, 1 August) writes that "the Mau Mau case offers Britain an opportunity to begin what philosopher Theodor Adorno called 'a serious working through of the past'". Forty years ago, Stuart Hall and others relentlessly tackled Britain's historical amnesia. The result was finally a school curriculum somewhat more open to a diversity of voices and views. My personal hope was that if young Britons were better able to understand our complex world, they would be more discerning when politicians spout arrogantly, often ignorantly, about the wider world. As Dr Gopal describes, that project is under attack from Michael Gove.

When writing Burn My Heart, set in Kenya at the time of Mau Mau resistance to colonial rule, I was painfully aware of the novel's contemporary resonances. Current occupations will cast terrible shadows for generations to come. While political stupidity renews itself, our technological capacity for destruction has increased. The beacon of awareness that Dr Gopal strives to keep alight is more vital than ever.Beverley NaidooBournemouth

• There was one British politician who confronted head-on the abuses associated with the Kenyan emergency. High Tory Enoch Powell, in a dramatic parliamentary debate, shocked the House of Commons by unreservedly condemning the killing of 11 Mau Mau men in Hola Camp. This was no one-off. On a later occasion, he criticised the cold-blooded murder of IRA operatives in Gibraltar despite his pro-Unionist beliefs.Yugo KovachWinterborne Houghton, Dorset